This invention relates generally to means for delivering a predetermined volume of coffee beans to a grinder and to means for delivering a predetermined quantity of ground coffee to coffee brewing apparatus.
Such means are, generally speaking, well known in the prior art. As to coffee bean dispensers, see, for example, U. S. Pat. No. 2,827,845 issued to S. E. Richeson on Mar. 25, 1958 which discloses means for delivering a preselected volume of whole coffee beans to a grinder. This device contains an adjustable sidewall for delivering beans from an intermediate chamber to a grinder which is operated manually by a see-saw arm to close an upper plate to seal off a hopper from the chamber while opening a lower plate to release a measured quantity of beans from the chamber to the grinder and vice versa. See also U. S. Pat. No. 3,967,546 issued to S. Cailliot on July 6, 1976; U. S. Pat. No. 4,188,863 issued to L. Grossi on Feb. 19, 1980; and U. S. Pat. No. 3,327,615 issued to W. S. Swan on June 27, 1967 which disclose still other examples of devices for the precision metering of coffee beans to grinders.
As to ground coffee metering apparatus, see U. S. Pat. No. 4,779,521 issued to W. L. Brumfield on Oct. 25, 1988. In this system, a brewing receptable is removably connected to a U-shaped plate so as to be movable with the plate as the latter slides back and forth to meter out ground coffee. The coffee is dispensed from a hopper through a vertical chute onto the sliding plate and spills under a vertically adjustable forward plate or lip into the receptacle. A knob is used to raise and lower the lip to increase or decrease the rate of flow of the coffee as it spills into the receptacle. A tension spring biases the sliding plate and receptacle toward a forward position in the housing of the system. The receptacle handle is manually pushed rearwardly in opposition to the spring bias to meter coffee into the receptacle.
These prior art assemblies are relatively complex in construction. Also, they do not make allowance for the bridging of coffee across an outlet caused by the flow resistance of either ground or whole bean coffee which is expressed in terms of the angle of repose thereof. Moreover, none of these systems are adapted to operate in conjunction with modern coffee grinders which are adapted to operate for a predetermined period of time after starting through the use of well known grinder timing circuits.
By means of my invention, these and other difficulties encountered in prior art whole bean and ground coffee dispensing for metering selected quantities thereof to a grinder or brewer apparatus, respectively, are substantially overcome.